Lately my four year old son’s been requesting to watch Mister Rogers Neighborhood and as I’ve been spending more time in the neighborhood of make believe with him, I’ve also been listening again to Fred’s subtle and profound wisdom of being human.

We listen to a recent “best of” compilation of Mister Rogers’ songs in the car and several of them have been named my son’s “favorite song.”

He’ll learn them so quickly and I will have to ask his help me when I try to remember the words. One of his favorites is the song “Be Brave, Be Strong” – which is a wonderful stirring march of a song – which concludes with Rogers’ spoken words:

“There are all kinds of brave strong people in this world.
Did you know that you can be brave and strong and still cry sometimes?
Oh sure – even when you’re missing someone.
Real brave and strong people are able to cry when things are hard.
But the one thing they don’t do is give up.
They don’t give up because they know that there’s so much that’s good in the world.
They keep trying and learning and looking and listening.”

Rogers has a way of reminding us to not be afraid of that most human part of ourselves – our emotions.
And for every grown-up listening in he gives such an important reminder that our bodies and our emotions are such an important part of who we are and caring for them is vital to our human flourishing – our health, our wellbeing – and those we care for.

I found on the shelf this morning my colleague Kimberly’s copy of the 2005 “Life’s Journey’s According to Mister Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way” – a book of quotes from Fred Rogers for young and old on this journey we call being human.

And in it I found this quote that really hits the mark for me about caring for our emotional selves.

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with important talk can help us know that we’re not alone.”

As we continue to care for ourselves and companion with one another along this journey of life, may we be brave and strong enough to name our feelings and share them with people we can trust to hear us and love us “exactly the way we are.” And then we’ll be reminded again of the good in us and around us that is the reason we continue not to give up.

Be brave and be strong today – brave and strong enough to cry if you need to, to lean on a trusting friend when you need to.

And know that we’re here too to be that caring presence for you.

Warmly,

Joel